Memorial Drive reconstruction project, other summer road closures start Monday on KU campus

Map of summer 2016 street construction on and around campus, via KU Design and Construction Management.

If you can find a spot, Memorial Drive is one of the best places to park on the Kansas University campus, I think. Assuming you’re trying to get somewhere on Jayhawk Boulevard, it’s halfway up the hill. Plus it’s peaceful, shady and offers a view of Marvin Grove.

It’s also one of the sketchiest. Jumping a curb to park, no lines between parallel parking spaces, dubiously paved — I once saw a vehicle that apparently overshot the parking slab on a muddy day and slid a car-width down the hill.

Memorial Drive is getting a facelift that will make it significantly less, ah, rustic. The road closes and work begins Monday — the morning after KU Commencement — and will continue over the next two or three summers.

The Memorial Drive reconstruction project calls for slope stabilization, drainage improvements, waterline replacement, improved parking, new pavement and sidewalks and improved lighting, according to KU spokeswoman Erinn Barcomb-Peterson. It also includes adding pavilions for additional future memorials.

The total project cost is estimated at $6 million, paid for by state repair and rehabilitation funds, KU parking funds and some funds from the city of Lawrence (work on West Campus Road at the end of Memorial Drive is included in the project), Barcomb-Peterson said. She said the Phase 1 portion of that cost, the phase happening this summer, is $3.1 million.

I feared the project would take away spaces on Memorial Drive (based on the sketchy edge-of-the-hill situation, and the fact that the recent Jayhawk Boulevard reconstruction project removed all the on-street parking from that thoroughfare). But actually, Barcomb-Peterson said work will add a few, bringing total spaces from 139 to 142. An additional ADA spot and two limited mobility spots account for the increase.

Barcomb-Peterson did say the current parking count of 139 isn’t precise but rather a best-estimate, explaining “the existing parallel spots now have no lines, so it depends on the size of the cars.”

And, I would add, how well they park.

Here is a rundown of Memorial Drive and other summer road closures to know about, according to KU Design and Construction Management:

• Memorial Drive, from the campanile to West Campus Road — Closed Monday until Aug. 21 for street reconstruction. The good news: Jayhawk Boulevard traffic gates will be open during the summer, which should help compensate.

• Intersection of 19th Street and Ousdahl Road — Closed Monday until sometime in August, for intersection improvements by the city.

• Irving Hill Road, from Burdick Drive (by Green Hall) to Engel Road (on Daisy Hill) — Closed Monday until Aug. 14, for Central District construction.

• Mississippi and 11th Streets, next to the HERE Kansas apartment project — Occasional closures Monday through Aug. 12, for street improvements by the city and developer.

• Sunflower Road, from Wescoe Hall Drive to Sunnyside Avenue — Occasional closures and lane restrictions Monday to July 30 for waterline improvements by the city.

Also, while most people have no reason to drive over there, all of the roads that used to lead from 19th Street to the now-razed Stouffer Place apartments are being affected. Ellis Drive is open only to Hilltop Child Development Center Traffic through August. Hopefully you already said your goodbyes to Bagley Road and Anna Drive; both will be permanently closed to the public and are slated to be removed altogether to make way for Central District construction.

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• I’m the Journal-World’s KU and higher ed reporter. See all the newspaper’s KU coverage at KUToday.com. Reach me by email at sshepherd@ljworld.com, by phone at 832-7187, on Twitter @saramarieshep or via Facebook at Facebook.com/SaraShepherdNews.